


Respite

by blueraccoon



Series: Gibbs/Reid [5]
Category: Criminal Minds, NCIS
Genre: BDSM, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-25
Updated: 2009-08-25
Packaged: 2017-10-12 23:17:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/130227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueraccoon/pseuds/blueraccoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's never been just about Reid, not between them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Respite

**Author's Note:**

> I'm apparently cleaning out my WIP folder. With many thanks to [](http://lillian13.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**lillian13**](http://lillian13.dreamwidth.org/) and [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/slashy_me/profile)[**slashy_me**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/slashy_me/) for reading this over, and apologies to [](http://sanders.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**sanders**](http://sanders.dreamwidth.org/) for posting while she was asleep. (Princess, this is what happens when you leave me alone.)

Gibbs wakes to an empty bed and a piece of paper folded on the other pillow. The note doesn't bother him as much as the fact that he apparently slept through Reid leaving. He doesn't like what that implies about the kid getting under his skin, behind his defenses.

He rolls onto his back and rubs a hand over his face. Too late for second guesses on that front. Gibbs picks up the note, squinting at it until he can make out the words.

 _If I'd told you I was leaving, you'd have convinced me to stay, and I need to go, for my own sanity as much as yours. Thank you for everything._ It's not signed, but there's a card tucked into the note. Full name, office phone, email, and cell phone--the last is circled.

"Hell," Gibbs mutters. That's one hell of a way to run away _and_ put the burden on Gibbs to initiate the next meeting, should there be one. But then, that's the question, isn't it? What's next?

Gibbs slides out of bed and goes to make coffee, taking the card with him. He doesn't look at it as the coffee brews and he gets his first cup, leaning against the counter to drink it. Probably best this way, really. No strings, no promises, just a couple nights and a day of fun and...

And that's not what he wants. Gibbs sighs and curses himself for a fool. He's been sunk since Reid called with that note of desperation in his voice. He couldn't have turned the kid away after hearing that.

Probably he should never have given Reid his number. Probably he should never have picked him up. "No fool like an old fool," Gibbs says under his breath, finishing his coffee. And no sense in wasting thoughts on what he shouldn't have done. Gibbs pours himself another cup of coffee and looks at the card.

It would be easy to say he was doing this for Reid's sake. Convince both of them it's Reid who needs it, Reid who needs to get out of his own head and--and Gibbs has already been too honest with him for that. It's never been just about Reid, not between them. Never been just about Gibbs, either, but that's beside the point. The point is that Reid's gotten too close and it would probably be better for both of them if Gibbs just threw away the card and didn't call him.

He curls his fingers around the card, intending to crumple it up and throw it away, and tucks it away in his pocket.

 _Sometimes I don't want to be in my head either._

Hell.

Gibbs rubs a hand over his face. Whatever he does, it won't be today. Better for them both to get a little space.

The resolution lasts long enough for him to go downstairs and get some work done, do a load of laundry, make himself some lunch. The house feels too quiet, which is...something Gibbs doesn't want to examine too closely. He picks up the phone before he gives himself a chance to think about it.

One ring. Two. "This is Reid."

"You ran away," Gibbs says. "You that afraid of me?"

"I had to leave," Reid says quietly. "It was too easy to stay."

"Thought the point was you staying the weekend," Gibbs says.

"Things change," Reid says.

"You got scared," Gibbs says, making more coffee. "Why?"

Reid's quiet for a moment. "I don't want to be claimed," he says. "I don't want to belong to someone. And I was--it was too close. You could have reached out and...and I didn't want that."

"Why?"

"Does it matter?" Reid asks. "It's my decision."

"Yeah, it is," Gibbs says. He takes a seat at the kitchen table. "And I told you I wasn't going to claim you."

"I don't believe you," Reid says simply.

"Don't believe me or don't want to believe me?" Gibbs asks. "Tell me why you're so afraid of belonging to someone."

"I'm not afraid of it," Reid says, sounding defensive. "I just--I don't want it. I don't want that kind of responsibility."

"Okay," Gibbs says. "Come back."

"You--" Reid falls silent again. "I thought we just discussed why that was a bad idea."

"No," Gibbs says. "We just discussed why you ran away. I'm not going to collar you, Spencer. I don't know you well enough for that." Whether or not he wants to isn't the point.

"And maybe it's better if things stay that way," Reid says.

"Come back," Gibbs says again. "Weekend's not over yet."

"Jethro--I appreciate everything you did for me this weekend, but...I really think it's best if I don't come back," Reid says.

Gibbs wishes he were here. It'd be easier to convince him if he could touch him, slide his hand into Reid's hair and tug. Cheating, maybe, but it works, and Gibbs isn't ready to let him go yet. "Then why'd you leave me your card?" he asks. "Why did you tell me to call you?"

"I didn't think you'd call _today_ ," Reid says, flustered. "I thought...I don't know what I was thinking."

"You're not a coward," Gibbs says. "Come back and face me."

"If I come back, I'm afraid I won't leave," Reid whispers. "You're too easy to be with."

"Really not," Gibbs says, smiling a bit. "Ask my ex-wives about that sometime."

Reid laughs at that. "I...am going to regret this in the morning," he says softly.

"We'll deal with that when it's morning," Gibbs says.

"Give me an hour," Reid says finally.

"Door'll be open," Gibbs tells him.

*****

He lets Reid get inside the house, the door shut, before he slides his hand into Reid's hair and kisses him, hard and deep. Reid whimpers against his mouth, melting into him, and when Gibbs releases him he has to take a step back to steady himself. "You're a dangerous man," Reid says, swallowing hard.

Gibbs reaches out to circle Reid's wrists with his hands, feeling his pulse jump. "I won't collar you," he says.

"I'm really not sure I believe you," Reid says, looking down at their hands. "And I'm not sure what's more frightening--that I don't know if I believe you, or I don't know if I care."

"Come to bed," Gibbs says, tightening his grip a little and watching Reid shiver. "We'll sort out the rest later."

Slowly, Reid nods. "Okay."

In bed, Reid twists and squirms under him, restless and edgy. He won't settle, won't surrender, until Gibbs pins him down with one hand in the small of his back and the other coming down hard on his ass. Reid cries out, but a little of the tension bleeds out of him, and it doesn't take long before he's arching up to meet the blows, whimpering every time Gibbs spanks him.

Gibbs stops when Reid's skin is deep pink and hot, when the whimpers have turned to half sobs and Gibbs can see tears on his lashes. He leans down to kiss the nape of Reid's neck, stroking his back. "Good boy," he murmurs, and Reid smiles hazily. "Turn over."

"Kiss me?" Reid asks softly, reaching up for Gibbs. "Please?"

"Yeah," Gibbs says, moving to settle against Reid, kissing him again and again. They move against each other, Reid's leg wrapping around Gibbs' hips and Gibbs pinning Reid's wrists over his head. Reid whines, pleading without words, crying out when Gibbs bites his throat.

"Please--sir--"

"Yeah," Gibbs says. "C'mon, pet. Come for me, just like this."

Reid keens as he comes, panting for breath, and Gibbs is right behind him, burying his groan in Reid's neck. They sprawl on the bed, sweaty and sticky and messy, until Gibbs summons the energy to reach for tissues to do a haphazard clean up. They'll need to change the sheets, but that can wait.

After a minute, Reid shifts, like he wants to say something but can't quite figure out how. "Tomorrow's soon enough," Gibbs says before he can. "Let today be what it is."

"Easy for you to say," Reid mumbles. "It's not that simple."

"Probably not," Gibbs admits. He strokes Reid's hair absently, noting the way it makes Reid murmur and snuggle closer to him.

"There's a difference between needing this and needing you," Reid says softly. "I'm okay with the former. I don't want the latter."

"You don't want to need anyone," Gibbs comments. "Who let you down, Spencer? Who walked out on you?"

It's probably the wrong thing to ask. Reid tenses, pulling away from Gibbs as much as he can with Gibbs' arm firm around him. "It was a long time ago and it doesn't--it's not relevant to this," he says. "I didn't come here to be questioned about my life. I get enough of that from my co-workers."

"Settle down," Gibbs says, tugging Reid back in against him and petting him. "He claimed you, didn't he?" he asks. "He collared you and then he left."

After a long moment, Reid nods. "Yes."

"Rough situation," Gibbs says matter-of-factly.

"It _was_ ," Reid says.

Still is, Gibbs thinks, but he doesn't push the subject. "You want to leave here and never see me again?" he asks. "Because I'm sure we could arrange that."

"Tell me what you want," Reid says, slowly starting to relax against Gibbs again.

"Don't know," Gibbs admits. "You and I work well together, though, and I'm not in a hurry to get rid of you." He rubs the back of Reid's neck gently. "Not in a hurry to collar you, either, so just settle down about that."

Reid snorts. "I'm still not sure I believe you."

"Go back to work tomorrow," Gibbs says. "Take a few days. You want to see me again, call me."

"And if I don't?" Reid asks.

Gibbs shrugs. "Don't call me."

"What's to stop you from calling me?" Reid asks.

"Didn't say I wouldn't," Gibbs points out. "You can always hang up."

"You're making a big effort to assure me that I have control over this situation," Reid observes. "Letting me call the shots, decide what I'm comfortable with, when or if I want to see you again. Is it easier for you to absolve yourself of responsibility that way? To put the burden on me, that way if it doesn't work out it was my call and not yours?"

"You're really determined to think the worst of me," Gibbs says. "But you can't quite figure out what that is."

Reid flushes. "I'm just being realistic."

"Maybe," Gibbs says, still stroking his hair and the back of his neck.

"I do have to go back to work tomorrow," Reid says. "And there's no guarantee I'll even be in the state the rest of the week. I can't predict my schedule."

"I know," Gibbs says. "Your cell phone stop working?"

Reid pulls away from Gibbs, rolling onto his back with a sigh of frustration. "I don't even know you," he says. "I don't know if I _want_ to know you."

"Think we're a little past that one now," Gibbs points out.

"Why are you doing this? What do you get out of it?" Reid demands.

"For one thing, you in my bed," Gibbs says. "Told you that before. You and I match up well, and it's been a while for me since I found someone with similar interests." He rolls onto his side, looking at Reid. "For another, you..." He sighs. "You weren't the only one who had a rough couple of cases."

Reid turns to look at him, intent and focused. "You lost someone," he says quietly. "Didn't you?"

"In a manner of speaking, yeah," Gibbs says. One gone and one...probably out finding the same thing as Reid. Gibbs just hopes he comes back in one piece.

"I'm sorry," Reid says.

Gibbs shrugs. "Shit happens."

"Yeah." Reid sits up, making a face at the residue on his skin. "I think I need a shower," he says.

"You know where it is," Gibbs says.

Reid nods and slides off the bed. "I'd ask you to join me, but there's no room."

"I'll be here when you get out," Gibbs says.

"Okay. Thanks." Reid disappears into the bathroom and a moment later Gibbs hears the water running. He stretches out on his back with a sigh, folding his hands behind his head.

Despite what Reid thinks, he really _isn't_ in a hurry to collar him. The idea is tempting in some aspects and completely not in others, and Gibbs, despite his behavior this weekend, is a little too much on the side of reasonable and rational to just claim a kid he barely knows.

But he's not ready to let go just yet.


End file.
